Jeremiah 36
The full text of Jeremiah 36 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah until now.
3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.
4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.
5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch: I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD's house.
6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.
7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD and will each turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.
8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD's house he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.
9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah.
10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD's house the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,
12 he went down to the secretary's room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.
13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll,
14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, 'Bring the scroll from which you have been reading to the people and come to us.' So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand.
15 They said to him, 'Sit down, please, and read it to us.' So Baruch read it to them.
16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, 'We must report all these words to the king.'
17 Then they asked Baruch, 'Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Was it from Jeremiah's own mouth?'
18 'Yes,' Baruch replied, 'he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.'
19 Then the officials said to Baruch, 'You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don't let anyone know where you are.'
20 After they deposited the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him.
21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him.
22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him.
23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.
24 The king and all his servants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their garments.
25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, along with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
28 Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.
29 Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, 'Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both man and beast?'
30 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.
31 I will punish him and his children and his servants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
Translation notes (13)
- Jeremiah 36:2a The Hebrew phrase mᵉgillat-sēper means 'scroll of a book,' referring to a leather or papyrus scroll. This was the first written collection of prophetic messages in Jeremiah, covering the years 627-605 BC.
- Jeremiah 36:3a The Hebrew word 'ûlay means 'perhaps,' indicating divine uncertainty and hope. The scroll serves as a final appeal before God's judgment falls.
- Jeremiah 36:4a This verse describes Baruch writing from Jeremiah's dictation, showing the creation of scripture in real time. Baruch is the first named biblical amanuensis, meaning a person who writes from dictation.
- Jeremiah 36:5a The Hebrew phrase ʾānî ʿāṣûr means 'I am restricted/confined.' The exact reason is unclear; Jeremiah was not yet imprisoned at this point (that comes later). It might refer to a ban on his access to the temple or a physical inability.
- Jeremiah 36:9a This event took place in December 604 BC, perhaps during a fast called in response to the news of Nebuchadnezzar's military campaign that year. The timing made the message maximally urgent.
- Jeremiah 36:10a Gemariah ben Shaphan belonged to the Shaphanide family (compare Jeremiah 26:24). The room at the upper gate was a prominent, public position with maximum visibility.
- Jeremiah 36:12a Elnathan son of Achbor is the same official who brought Uriah back from Egypt (Jeremiah 26:22). He is present here and later attempts to prevent the scroll's burning (verse 25).
- Jeremiah 36:16a The Hebrew phrase paḥadû ʾîš 'el-rēʿēhû means 'they trembled, each to his companion,' indicating genuine terror at what they heard. The scroll clearly had a significant impact.
- Jeremiah 36:22a It was December in Jerusalem, cold enough to need a fire. The mention of the winter house and the firepot provides vivid domestic detail that sets the scene for what is about to happen.
- Jeremiah 36:23a The Hebrew phrase yiqrāʿehā bᵉtaʿar hassōpēr means 'he cut it with the scribe's knife.' This describes a deliberate, methodical destruction, not a burning done in rage, but a systematic, cold, column-by-column disposal.
- Jeremiah 36:24a Heb. 'they did not tear their garments' — the standard response to horrible news (cf. 2 Kgs 22:11 when Josiah heard the law-scroll). Jehoiakim's deliberate refusal to respond as his father Josiah did.
- Jeremiah 36:30a The Hebrew phrase wᵉhāyᵉtāh niblātô mᵉšulleket means 'his corpse will be cast/exposed.' This confirms the prophecy of a 'donkey-burial' (Jeremiah 22:19), meaning no proper burial and no successor to his throne. King Jehoiakim's act of burning the scroll directly triggers this judgment.
- Jeremiah 36:32a The Hebrew phrase wᵉnôsap̄ ʿălêhem dᵉbārîm rabbîm kahēmmāh means 'many words like them were added.' The second scroll was longer than the first, showing that King Jehoiakim's destruction of God's word resulted in more of God's word, not less.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Jeremiah, is free to read here on the web.
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